06-24-2010, 09:10 AM | #1 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Baraka's Fabulous Fantastical Journey — Reading Fantasy Literature
Hey, TFP!
I've built a fabulous reading list of fantasy literature that I wish to share with you. I've spent a number of years denying myself the pleasure of reading extensively in this genre, but no more! I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, by the granddaddy of the genre, J. R. R. Tolkien. I won't be addressing these titles here, as it will be assumed that you too have read these essential works. (If not, get thee to Middle-earth! ) Other works I've read included several of the original Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance series (long ago now), but in hindsight I tend to view these series as either mediocre or particularly bad. I've more recently read George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones, book one of his celebrated Song of Ice and Fire series. (Discussion thread coming shortly.) I will be focusing on this series to lead us into the best of the best in fantasy, but not before reading some older pre- and post-Tolkien classics, namely, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, Eddings' Belgariad, and Brooks' original Sword of Shannara trilogy. I will consider these as a part of a "classic fantasy" category, which will serve as a great introduction. Yes, I know other works can be classified as such, but I don't want to put too much into this category for this purpose. These other works can be visited at a later time. So, I will map out the readings over time, and I hope you will join me for the journey. This thread will be somewhat similar to the TFP Speculative Fiction Book Club, but it will be less formal, perhaps (perhaps not). I will create threads for books after I've read them to have open discussions. So please join me and have fun! Recommendations are welcome, but I've been rooting around quite a bit now and I have lots to go on already. I will certainly appreciate anything I may have missed. [Note: For the sake of breadth within the genre and within the context of this thread, I have chosen to cover no more than three books within a particular series.] Reading List (not definitive) [Classic Fantasy] Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Original Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks
The Belgariad by David Eddings
[The Essentials] A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 11-26-2010 at 09:25 AM.. |
06-24-2010, 09:44 AM | #2 (permalink) |
Young Crumudgeon
Location: Canada
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When discussing fantasy here, are you looking strictly at Tolkein-esque high fantasy novels, or are you open to some more liberal entries within the genre? It Matters.
I just finished A Storm of Swords and am waiting on A Feast For Crows from the local library. All I have to say is hurry up and get reading, sir! It is a most excellent series. I don't read all that much fantasy, so my contributions here will be limited.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame |
06-24-2010, 09:58 AM | #3 (permalink) |
Functionally Appropriate
Location: Toronto
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I look forward to the Song of Ice and Fire thread. I've just started A Feast For Crows.
The eyebrow-raiser on your list for me is The Belgariad. I read that as a teen and really enjoyed it but I wonder if you'll find it too "young adult" to enjoy. Isn't the Shannara Trilogy also aimed at younger readers? My personal favourite that I can't recommend enough is Joseph Abercrombie's First Law trilogy and its companion book Best Served Cold. These are taut, exciting stories with unconventional characters and magics and are epic without being bogged down by the tropes of the genre. Anyway, good luck to to you.
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06-24-2010, 10:18 AM | #4 (permalink) | |||||
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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---------- Post added at 02:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ---------- Okay, so I set up the first discussion thread here: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...-spoilers.html
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 06-24-2010 at 10:52 AM.. |
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06-24-2010, 12:00 PM | #5 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: The Danforth
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A question that may or may not influence the selections, do you consider The Eternal Champion set as Fantasy? I think this would include anything by Moorcock, dealing with Elric, Prince Corum, Jherek Carnelian or Jerry Cornelius.
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06-24-2010, 12:19 PM | #6 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Yes, there are a few series/sequences that I've looked at that are kind of a subgenre of fantasy. I think it's often referred to as "sword and planet science fantasy" or something. It's a vein of "speculative fiction" that splintered off of the heyday of science fiction/speculative fiction, if I'm not mistaken. I'd be willing to explore that aspect of fantasy, though I'm not sure how willing I'd be to go to far into it. If you recommend The Eternal Champion as a good specimen of this sort of thing, I'm certainly willing to try it. I could even add this as a subgenre and a nice diversion from the main list, just as long as it doesn't delve too closely to science fiction.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
06-24-2010, 04:43 PM | #7 (permalink) |
Paladin of the Palate
Location: Redneckville, NC
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I want to recommend a few books as I think we talked about this thread before in chat.
A lot of the books that I would recommend are already there, so I got some to ask about that are not "Epic" fantasy. Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini? To young adult? I liked them a lot and can't wait for the 4th book. There are a few series I like that fall under the "young adult" section of books. I'm guessing Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is out (for length aspects) but his Conan books are great fantasy stories even if they fall into the "fan fic" area of fantasy. Bedlam's Bard Series by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon. Cheesy? Yes. It's also Urban fantasy (Lower realm elves hang out at the mall using low magic to make copies of quarters to play endless video games) so I don't know if that's out or not. I wanted to suggest this book in the Sci-Fi thread, but I think it's more fantasy than sci-fi. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville is an awesome read and one of the few books that really challenged my vocabulary (he loves latin words). Might be to sci-fi for this thread, but I got to mention it somewhere. Killing all D&D books really bumps out of a lot of my "classic fantasy" books. I'm going to have to brain storm to add some to this list. I still haven't read LOTR... |
06-24-2010, 05:42 PM | #8 (permalink) |
Addict
Location: Houston, Texas
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Does "Going After Cacciato" by Tim O'Brien count as fantasy? The chase after Cacciato is one man's "fantasy" and some of the elements he thinks of could be in the fantasy genre. Anyone read it?
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06-24-2010, 05:47 PM | #9 (permalink) | |||||||
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Why do you hate fantasy? ---------- Post added at 09:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 PM ---------- Quote:
I think the modern setting would put it more into the speculative fiction thread though. What do you think?
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
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06-25-2010, 03:56 AM | #10 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: The Danforth
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You know, until you mentioned it in the preceding post, I had never considered the LOTR to be fantasy. I never really categorized it, although when I read it the first time around (it was wildly popular in my first year of university, and even spawned a movie back in '78 or 79) I recommended to my father to read it. His reply (in classic Teutonic fashion) was that he already read the Ring of the Nibelung, or the Nibelungenlied, so why would he read something derivative. I of course never brought it up with him again.
So, a few years later when I read through The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, I kind of knew where he was coming from. I think that as the tales of the Unbeliever are to LOTR, so is LOTR to the Nibelungenlied. To me, Thomas Covenant is prime Fantasy genre while LOTR was something that stood out on its own. Maybe it created the genre.
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06-25-2010, 04:10 AM | #11 (permalink) | ||||
Paladin of the Palate
Location: Redneckville, NC
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Promise I don't, I just get into the "epic" side of fantasy. I like it when I get into it, but I don't actively seek it out. The series I usually classify as epic get WAY to bloated by the end (even GRRM has a slight case of the bloat IMHO) and usually seek out single books or less "epic" series. Good enough to tell a tale but not bloat city when it comes to sub-plots, characters, and locations. I like cheese. I really do. It's a bad habit at times but my reading list sometimes overflows with it. I'm just trying to get a feel for what you want on your list. I can now officially cross off 95% of my fantasy book collection. Yes, I will read LOTR... someday... soon... |
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06-25-2010, 05:06 AM | #12 (permalink) | |||
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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EDIT: Oh, and about Thomas Covenant: I have heard great things about Lord Foul's Bane, and so I've added it to the list. Quote:
Yes, you must read it, Eden. You must read it nao!
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 06-25-2010 at 06:06 AM.. |
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06-25-2010, 10:15 AM | #13 (permalink) | |
Young Crumudgeon
Location: Canada
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Slight? In A Storm of Swords, the appendix listing the various characters is 46 pages long. And that's the third book. Apparently he's planning seven, and that's not even counting short stories and the like that share the setting.
I've read the Silmarillion. I know what extraneous detail looks like. If you can get through the Song of Ice and Fire series, you can get through Lord of the Rings. As for the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms series, I remember thoroughly enjoying them when I was 13 or so, but I'm pretty sure that's because they're the sorts of books that 13 year old boys enjoy. I have no particular desire to revisit them, and would recommend we steer clear of those. Quote:
Lord of the Rings is full of cheesy tropes. It just gets a pass because it created half of them.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame |
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06-25-2010, 10:25 AM | #14 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Well, yeah, they weren't cheesy in the '50s.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
06-25-2010, 11:58 AM | #16 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Yes, it certainly is on there somewhere. I should probably try to keep it high up on the list, as I really want to read it.
And an UPDATE: I just got Pawn of Prophecy from the library, so I will be starting it....for anyone who will be reading The Belgariad along with me. It looks like a quick read.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
06-28-2010, 06:36 PM | #18 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Have a look at the updated OP.
I have started a discussion thread for Pawn of Prophecy, Book One of The Belgariad, plus I have posted my initial comments in the thread for A Game of Thrones. Also, my next departure will be to read A Clash of Kings, Book Two of A Song of Ice and Fire!
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
06-28-2010, 07:47 PM | #19 (permalink) |
loving the curves
Location: my Lady's manor
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C. J. Cherryh
the Morgaine books 1. Gate of Ivrel (1976) 2. Well of Shiuan (1978) 3. Fires of Azeroth (1979) 4. Exile's Gate (1988) the Tristan books 1. Fortress in the Eye of Time (1995) 2. Fortress of Eagles (1998) 3. Fortress of Owls (1998) 4. Fortress of Dragons (2000) 5. Fortress of Ice (2006) Take a gander at all of her other work, but these fantasy works are contenders for your list. Guy Gavriel Kay - anything by this fellow - but for fantasy I hope you consider these books. The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy The Summer Tree (1984) The Wandering Fire (1985) The Darkest Road (1985) Tigana (1990) A Song for Arbonne (1992)
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06-28-2010, 07:55 PM | #20 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Thanks for the recommendations, Kramus. You will see that the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy is already on the list. And I'm finding that Tigana is a standalone title that I can't seem to avoid.
I haven't really looked at Cherryh before. That Morgaine series looks interesting. It appears to be quite squarely in that "science fantasy" genre that has eluded me so far. Maybe I'll make a subcategory for that here. I wasn't sure whether to do that here or in the speculative fiction thread.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
06-28-2010, 08:53 PM | #21 (permalink) |
Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance.
Location: Madison, WI
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I might suggest the Curse of the Mistwraith series by Janny Wurts. Good epic fantasy stuff, and she really knows how to make her plots twist back on themselves in a way that is fun to read. Give them a try. The first is simply Curse of the Mistwraith.
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06-29-2010, 12:00 AM | #22 (permalink) |
Winter is Coming
Location: The North
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I'd really be a shame to only address the Farseer Trilogy and skip over the Liveship and Fool trilogies. While the Farseer may be the tighest and best of the three, I think it's worth taking the long road here, assuming we're feeling like gluttons for punishment. If any modern author has truly latched on to Tolkein's concept of eucatastrophe, it's definitely Hobb.
I'll take this project as an opportunity to finally make it through Gormenghast, too. My previous attempts have been on the fruitless side. FOCUS! |
06-29-2010, 12:31 AM | #23 (permalink) |
Minion of Joss
Location: The Windy City
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First of all, a big hells yeah for Tolkien. I wrote my college thesis on Tolkien, Christianity, and The Silmarillion, and I have loved his work my whole life. I would actually love to add The Silmarillion to the list, as I think it is a much deeper, more complex work than LOTR (though I love LOTR).
I am on the second book right now of the Wheel of Time series, and am enjoying them very much, although I think his dialogue leaves a bit to be desired. I would add also the Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, and Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian trilogy. But, to be frank, IMO, Paolini's Inheritance books are really not so deserving of notice. I mean, it is kind of impressive that he managed to write a novel and get it published when he was only 16 or so, but the work itself is ungodly derivative. And not in the good sense of "he's following in so-and-so's footsteps," but in the sense of "I can take any couple of chapters and dissect precisely what he stole from Tolkien, from Jordan, from McCaffrey, from Star Wars, and so forth." His plot exposition is leaden, his dialogue, wincingly trite, and his character development nearly nonexistent, with occasional bursts of improbable alteration. BTW,if we're going to include "young adult" fiction, I think much better candidates are Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising quintology, and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles quintology. Both are superbly written, and draw extensively on the classical legendry of the British Isles. Also, Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time quintology is a classic, and not to be missed. And the His Dark Materials series by Pullman is also worthy of discussion. And, I would add the Harry Potter books. They may have suffered from gross overexposure, but each time I reread them I notice that they really are fresh and creative and witty and entertaining. They are plain-out-and-out good books.
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Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne) |
07-15-2010, 09:03 PM | #24 (permalink) |
Mine is an evil laugh
Location: Sydney, Australia
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seconded on this. I've read more than my fair share of fantasy, and struggled to finish the first book. How something so poorly written was published is only explained by the fact it was published by his parent's publishing company!
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07-21-2010, 02:39 PM | #25 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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The Clash of Kings discussion thread has commenced!
I'm reading some things in between (some short stories and such), but I hope to commence reading A Storm of Swords shortly.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
07-21-2010, 04:10 PM | #26 (permalink) |
Kick Ass Kunoichi
Location: Oregon
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Slowly working my way through A Game of Thrones right now. It's good stuff. I admit that I was surprised by how much I like it thus far. I only wish I had more time to devote to solely reading.
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07-25-2010, 05:27 PM | #27 (permalink) |
Paladin of the Palate
Location: Redneckville, NC
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I got two series I want to put up to the council for review.
First, The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. He's a hugo award winning author and I loved this series of books. It's epic (while might not be considered a classic) and has some great writing. It's 10 books long (short books tho, I have the full series in one book I bought for $25 at a store) and I think could be considered for this list. Second is just a stab in the dark, but I thought I'd ask. The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. Some love it, some hate it. I loved the first half of the series and had to make my way through the second half (just like WoT by Robert Jordan). I'm not sure if either fits your criteria, but I thought I'd offer them to the judgment of the council. |
07-25-2010, 05:39 PM | #28 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Zelazny comes up a lot in my searches for sci-fi and fantasy, so I'd be willing to consider it for sure.
Goodkind is on my bigger list, but I wasn't sure how to fit it in in terms of priority. Let's put it this way: Which would you prefer? The Sword of Truth or the Wheel of Time? The vibe I get is that they are about the came "caliber." Also, they're both rather long.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
07-25-2010, 07:28 PM | #29 (permalink) |
Paladin of the Palate
Location: Redneckville, NC
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Personally, I'd like to do the first half of both series, that's the real "meat and potatoes" of the series (and the best of the books that each respective author wrote IMHO).
Without that choice, I'd choose Sword of Truth, I think they have more depth to them and have better re-readability. |
07-25-2010, 07:51 PM | #30 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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You know, the more I think of it, SoT seems more appealing than WoT. If you think that SoT has better re-readability, then that's a good sign. I was leaning more towards WoT originally because it seemed to be "the best thing since LotR."
However, Wizard's First Rule has always beckoned to me, whereas The Eye of the World, or WoT in general? Nothing, really. Notta. Maybe I'll just switch out WoT with SoT in the OP list. There's something about Jordan that makes me reluctant to get into him anyway. I don't know what it is. Regardless, I think I'd like to tackle The Malazan Book of the Fallen first. I've heard great things about it, originality being among them (and that being a big bonus). On a side note: I just finished the Prologue to A Storm of Swords! On another side note: I suppose 12-plus-book cycles is rather long at any rate. I suppose for the purpose of this thread that maybe we should only cover the first 3 or 4 books of long cycles. (Or 6 if you really suggest it.) If we only do 3 books each, then we could cover both series at least as far as a "this is how it's set up" and "this is what the series is like" kind of discussion. The rest of the series anyone can just read on their own.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 07-25-2010 at 07:59 PM.. |
07-25-2010, 10:35 PM | #31 (permalink) | |
Minion of Joss
Location: The Windy City
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But I think that in terms of characters, Jordan is a better writer. A lot happens to Goodkind's characters, and the best of them can spend pages upon pages of internal processing before even a two-sentence speech, but I always feel like his dialogue and interactions are a little wooden. Jordan's characters just flow a little more, I think. I also am an enormous fan of Jordan's attention to the differences and divergences of cultures in his world. I really feel like different places are different in his world: people dress differently, have different values, see things differently, whereas in Goodkind's lands, some people are more evil, and some more good, but I always feel like everybody's kind of cut from the same cultural cloth, no matter where they're from. BTW, I read Zelazny's whole Chronicles of Amber during the year I lived in Israel-- I was desperate for English-language fantasy/sci-fi fiction, and I found a copy of the complete Amber in a little bookstore with a single shelf of English books, and snapped it up. It was, given the context, diverting, but I confess I found it deeply uncompelling. I never got attached to the characters, I thought the plot was a confused jumble, and though some of his ideas were spectacularly original, he just never seemed to make them pan out in ways I found engaging. If I had picked it up in America, I probably would never have finished it.
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Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne) |
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07-26-2010, 04:39 AM | #32 (permalink) |
People in masks cannot be trusted
Location: NYC
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I agree with Levite, Riddlemaster trilogy is a must.
How about some dark fantasy, like C.S Friedman, or Anna Bishop. A new series that only one book is out (but was an incredible first book) was Name of the Wind, by patrick Rothfuss. |
07-26-2010, 05:09 AM | #33 (permalink) | |||
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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I'll figure out a secondary vein for this thread.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
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07-26-2010, 11:33 AM | #34 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Ohio
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the debate concerning jordan or goodkind is a long one and really just comes down to personal preference.
I myself LOVE the sword of truth series. It was my first experience in the fantasy genre(except for LoTR as a teen) so I may be a little biased. Wheel of Time is a good series(first few books anyway) but Jordan got so bogged down in side plots that I found myself skimming alot in his later works. just my $0.02
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07-27-2010, 04:47 AM | #35 (permalink) |
People in masks cannot be trusted
Location: NYC
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Anna McCaffey - Pern series I guess is epic fantasy, I know there is like 20 books, but the dragonriders series is a good start.
I also missed His dark marterials, by Pullman which levite mentioned earlier. Name of the wind Patrick Rothfuss, I will say again totally amazing first book! Scott Lynch - Lies of Locke Lamora Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn series And I can not believe Tad Williams - Memory Sorrow Thorn is not on here. Now I said C.S Friedman Black Sun rising trilogy is dark fantasy, I can argue as well that it is definitely epic fantasy as well. Joe Abercrombie - The Blade itself Jordan was great, his first few books, he loses it with the men vs female being idiot concept, and his tapestry got so big he could not keep a hold on the story that it stunk. Goodkind at the beginning seemed like a copycat, his first few books was amazing, and he lost it as well, story got to big. His stories also began to end the same way last second as a war wizard he automatically knew to do a,b,c and bam problem solved, but by solving it he broke rule #x which will lead to the next book. Last edited by Xazy; 07-27-2010 at 04:49 AM.. |
07-27-2010, 02:03 PM | #36 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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I just tightened up the list a bit.
Lots of good suggestions here, but I say we focus on what I have in the OP for the meantime. I think if we cut long cycles to 3 books, then we could have an easier time adding to the list. As noted, this is not a definitive list. If anything, this is a survey—or maybe just a sample—of epic/high fantasy. It's a big genre with a lot of books, and so I can't hope to put everything up here to cover. Consider that I haven't added such offshoots as sword & sorcery, low fantasy, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, or humor books such as Pratchett. I think keeping the focus on epic/high fantasy will allow us to explore what makes up the lion's share of the genre. If, after we've gone through what's currently in the OP, we have the desire to move into these subgenres, perhaps it will be then that we do. Those books by China Miéville keep staring at me.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
09-13-2010, 08:17 AM | #38 (permalink) |
Paladin of the Palate
Location: Redneckville, NC
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I'm down for some Brandon Sanderson being on this list. I liked him from the first book I read, which was the first WoT book I actually liked in a LONG time. I'm currently working on his Mistborn series and I love his style of writing. He actually came up with a unique magic system, which is almost unheard of these days.
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09-13-2010, 08:27 AM | #39 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Sanderson,yes. I love his writing podcast.
I should drop in a quick note that my reading waned recently because of my having to edit four books in half as many months. It's over now, so my reading stamina isn't so taxed these days. I've continued on my way with A Storm of Swords.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
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baraka, fabulous, fantastical, fantasy, journey, literature |
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